After an already incredibly successful year, Malton School has once again been recognised, this time in the TES Schools Awards, for which staff members have been shortlisted in two different categories. The TES annual Awards celebrate the most outstanding individuals and institutions that the education sector has to offer, and Malton School is delighted to be in the running for two Awards.

Maths Teacher, Sam Craggs has been short-listed in the New Teacher of the Year category. Sam has been with the School since 2019 when he joined as an NQT. In that time, he has gone from strength to strength, more than demonstrating to staff and students that he has what it takes to be an outstanding Maths teacher – and making a real difference for both School and students along the way.

Sam said of his nomination, “I am honoured not only to be nominated but to be shortlisted as well for the awards; it came as such a shock and I am so humbled and grateful to everyone at Malton School for helping me develop my teaching. I have always known I have wanted to be a teacher; it has been a passion of mine from an early age. The atmosphere, lovely staff and pupils at Malton School have made my first two years of teaching even better”.

Additionally, the entire Maths Faculty have been short-listed in the Maths Team of the Year category. James Muir, Head of Faculty, and his team, have worked tirelessly over recent years, and especially during the recent lockdowns, with enthusiasm and dedication to engage students from primary level right through to A level and beyond. As a result of their work, the School now has a great system in place to help students make a smooth transition from primary to secondary school study, as well as a growing A level cohort, many of whom go on to study Maths or Maths-related subjects at university.

Speaking of both the nominations, James said, “As leader of the Maths Faculty I am thrilled with both the nominations and shortlisting. It is fully deserved recognition for the hard work and dedication not only of Sam but of the entire Maths Team throughout what has been a very challenging year. It has been fantastic overseeing a team that has collaborated so effectively and continued to strive to improve the quality of Maths teaching for all year groups throughout the school. I was really proud of the quality of remote learning provision that the Maths team were able to deliver during remote learning via Teams and OneNote as well as the continued work we have done with our feeder primaries to ease Key Stage transition for our students.”

Rob Williams, who himself won Secondary Headteacher of the Year last year in the Pearson National Teaching Awards, was delighted that the efforts of teaching staff have once again been recognised, commenting, “Students at Malton School have greatly benefitted from the teaching of the excellent Maths Team that has been built and led so well by James. My congratulations go to James, Sam and the whole team; we all wish them the very best for the Awards Ceremony next week.”

As with last year, the awards ceremony itself will be virtual – taking place online on Friday, 25 June when the winners in all the categories will be announced. To see a full list of who’s in the running, visit tesawards.co.uk.